Paul Bereswill/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin told a Russian newspaper Monday that the NHL lockout could last up to a year.

"If the league (NHL) continues to insist on their (demands), then it will take a full year. That's because we are not going to cave in," Ovechkin said, according to Sovetsky Sport. "Then I will spend the entire season in the KHL. It's an absolute reality."

NHL commisioner Gary Bettman and the NHLPA have not met face-to-face since last Wednesday, but the two sides have been talking informally.

Other NHL players have already signed in overseas leagues similar to the KHL.

The lockout, which went into effect at 11:59 P.M. Saturday, is the fourth work stoppage in the last 20 years.